Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Axes grind and maces clash as wounded fighters fall to the ground
Severed limbs and fatal woundings bloody corpses lay all around

Cheery lyrics, I know. You can thank Iron Maiden for that. The song, Invaders, chronicles the Saxon collapse at the hands of the Vikings. While you could Google "severed limbs", you don't need to, I imagine. Axes? Nah, you have too, I bet.

Mace? What the hell is a mace? Sure, you can cook with it, but how exactly do you kill someone with a cooking spice derived from nutmeg?

You don't. This is a mace.

As you can see, getting hit with such a weapon would just suck bad. About the length of a baseball bat but much heavier, the weight would collapse armor while the spikes could penetrate it. In the end, the combination of the two would simply be the end of a warrior if the hit was clean and solid.

Nature has invaders, too.

Teasel (or teazel) is an invasive plant species from Europe. If you haven't seen it, you will soon enough. No, it is not a new problem as it has been here for decades - you'll just be looking for it now. Look for it around disturbed soils. Fields, train track right-of-aways, and the shoulders of dirt roads are perfect for it.

Now, tell me it doesn't look like a mace. I see the resemblance for sure.

Imagine that. The song Invaders mentions invaders using weapons that look like our invaders.